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Tag Archives: Hockey

It’s been a long journey to get to this point. Tomorrow, Frozen Hearts will be re-released into the world. Way back in March of 2013 this book saw the light of day only to have things go horribly wrong and disappear from the public. Now, with Dreamspinner Press behind me, the book will once again, come to life.
The word count has increased. Characters fleshed out and more detail added to the story.
The first time the book released I was sitting at a college hockey game watching the game I love. Today I’m waiting patiently for hockey season to start. Last I checked, I have 44 days until the puck drops for my college team. The pro pre-season starts a little earlier but still, it’s a long time to wait. And I have to watch the pro games on television. There’s nothing like watching hockey in person. And I have great seats. Third row from the ice, to the visiting goalie’s left side…it’s awesome.
Frozen Hearts is about a guy who played four years of college hockey, was the team captain, drafted by a pro team, and touted as the best college hockey player in the nation. After his team wins the Frozen Four, he quits, no longer willing or able to stay in the closet and live a lie.
Come take the journey with Erik “Foxy” Fox and see if he is able to figure out his life and get what he wants.

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One of the most common questions an author gets asked is where did the idea for your story come from. I know exactly how the idea for Frozen Hearts happened.

I listen to a lot of music and one night, I stumbled upon a track by The Fray called Be Still. The moment the haunting music started an idea formed in my head.I listened to the song again and the story idea roared. I grabbed my computer and started to write the almost end of a story.

Even to this day, when the music starts, I’m whisked back to the experience of writing that heart wrenching scene. I hope I did the song justice. And maybe I wrote the scene so well that the reader will know exactly where the song fits.

And if you go through the valley
And the shadow comes down from the hill
If morning never comes to beBe still be still be still

It’s freaking 8am in the morning, which is early for me since I usually like to write at night. BUT there’s a great reason I’m awake, showered, and fully clothed. Today, I’m going on a Quest… A Cup Quest. I have a book coming out on August 22nd and I figured I should blog something about the book and since the book is about HOCKEY what better way to do it than to head out on a quest.
Frozen Hearts is the first novel length book ever picked up by a publisher, granted that particular partnership failed, but now the story is back and better than ever. Thank you Dreamspinner.
I’ll be back later to do a full disclosure on the state of my quest.
In the mean time, Frozen Hearts is available for pre-order on Dreamspinner

Write what you know…Yeah, well, I’ve never actually played the game of hockey unless you count games on outdoor rinks where you spend more time crawling out of snowbanks than playing the game, or maybe teaching power skating to little wanna-be hockey players count. Regardless, I wrote a book that includes hockey (make that two books. Frozen Heartsis coming out in August)
Since Picks & Pucks was released, I’ve been asked where the book is set, so tonight, I’m spilling the beans. When I was writing the book, I decided not to get specific about the location. It’s easier to be vague, but it’s easier to use real locations to get the descriptions right. And since I grew up in a college hockey town with a stellar team and beautiful arena, I went with what I know.
This is the arena I used. It’s one of the best venues in the country. It was built especially for viewing hockey and playing the game. The Ralph Englestad Arena is gorgeous, inside and out.
When I attended a game at the Joe Louis arena, where the Red Wings play, the first thing I thought was…this is a dump compared to our college arena. I didn’t say it out loud. I’m not that stupid.
The building has two sheets of ice. One regulation hockey, the other an Olympic size sheet of ice. I’ve skated on both sheets and been in the underbelly of the building. I’ve only seen pictures of the hockey locker room though. The arena seats close to 11,700 people and is regularly sold-out for the games.

So there’s the answer. I used the University of North Dakota hockey program for inspiration when writing Picks & Pucks and Frozen Hearts.

If you ever have a chance to see a hockey game up in the frozen north at the palace on the prairie, I highly recommend it.

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The release of Picks & Pucks has been a pretty lovely experience. For every author who releases anything into the general public, it’s nerve-wracking and sometimes, ego damaging. But for the most part, it’s been great. The process of writing the book was hard work, sometimes painful, like having a root canal without the numbness, and sometimes joyous.

So today, I wanted to share some cool things I used in the book. There are a couple of scenes where the hockey players show off some of their more stellar moves. I stole a lot of the moves from Tomas Jurco, except my main character did a dance on the ice with the puck and stick. Here’s a link to the vid I used to inspire the scenes. And seriously, if you’ve never seen the Patrick Kane stick handle video Check it Out!

Today I’m going to introduce you to the hockey side of Picks & Pucks.Justin has a problem with all things hockey. He has a bad habit of hooking up with the wrong guys who happen to be hockey players. Let’s meet the guys. First up is Danny Jackson.

He’s a cocky ass who plays hockey on Justin’s dad’s college team. When Justin comes home to train, it’s Danny who picks Justin up at the airport. Justin’s demons come out in full force and torture him with thoughts of being with Danny.

The next guy to stroll into Justin’s life is another hockey player who transferred to play hockey under Justin’s dad. Meet Colton Daly or CJ

So who does Justin pick? Either, neither, both? Hahaha, just kidding. He doesn’t get both, but man, that would have been a hot scene to write. Fans self.

I’m having a hard time writing this post. I keep scrolling back up to look at the pictures of CJ and Danny. You can blame for my inability to write a coherent sentence. My spelling is also atrocious today. Thank you autocorrect. Anyway, to get back on track, Picks & Pucks will be out on April 21. Take the journey with these boys. Pick your favorite.

Since it was an Olympic year, the World Figure Skating Championships fell under the radar. If you didn’t know, the United States didn’t medal in anything. Nothing. Nada. Zippo. On Monday, April 21, I have a book coming out called Picks & Pucks. Pretty sure my main character would have medaled at Worlds. In fact, Justin would have settled for nothing less than gold.

So who is Justin Corrin?

This is how I picture Justin. And I should know, he resided inside my head for many months. He was a young hockey phenom who gave up the sport to compete in figure skating. This decision did not sit well with his hockey coach father, his hockey playing brother, and his sister, who felt he took the spotlight off her budding skating career. The only two people in Justin’s corner are his mom and his coach, until tragedy strikes and he loses his mother in car accident. HIs life spirals out of control, and instead of facing his demons, he runs to California to a training facility far from home. Tomorrow I’ll introduce the boys in his life. As if he didn’t have enough problems, he seems to have a thing for hockey boys.